Egelston Township may contract for fire services with its neighbor Muskegon Township in an effort to cut township expenses, an official said Wednesday.

Egelston currently has its own fire department consisting of four full-time firefighters, with a station and equipment at 5380 E. Apple.

Under the proposed contract, the Egelston firefighters likely would wind up working for Muskegon Township. Egelston Township would pay Muskegon Township a fee for fire service, while Muskegon Township would lease Egelston's firefighting equipment.

Vicky Jensen, Egelston Township supervisor, said it's "premature" to say whether the idea will actually come to fruition, but confirmed it's been discussed with union representative on both sides.

"We're looking at opportunities. We're looking at the possibility to see if it is more cost effective to lease services with Muskegon Township," Jensen said. "We've been looking at it for a long time. We just want to see if it's cheaper. Right now we spend more than what the fire millage brings in."

Muskegon Township Supervisor Patrick Jordan confirmed that representatives of the two townships have been discussing the idea for several months. "It's talking," Jordan said.

"There's no agreement reached. There are a lot of legal issues to work through."

Jordan stressed that any deal would have to make financial sense for Muskegon Township's taxpayers. "It can't cost us money," Jordan said. "There should be something there to make it worthwhile to us. Regionalism is not an end in itself."

For Egelston Township officials, the motive is to save money.

The smaller township collects about $500,000 a year from its fire millage, but annual expenses have consistently exceeded that figure, Jensen said.

"It costs more to run a full-time fire department than what we bring in," she said. "It's been that way for a long time."

Details of the proposal being discussed, including financial specifics, are not yet publicly available.

Jensen stressed the idea hasn't yet come before either township board for review, but on Feb. 4 the Egelston Township Board will meet in closed session to discuss it. The meeting will be closed to the public because it involves attorney advice about a legal contract, Jensen said.

The townships have worked under an "automatic aid" agreement since 1996, meaning one department assists the other during fire calls.

The Egelston Township chief position has remained vacant since May 2006, at which time Jensen became the "administrative fire chief."

Muskegon Township's much larger fire department has roughly 40 firefighters, most of them "paid on call" rather than full time, except for a few command officers.